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Teenage Wasteland

The Adamantium Men
Wrtten by Jason Aaron
Art by Ron Garney and Jason Keith

On the way home from my comic shop today, I realised something. I've been reading comics for two years now, a little bit over in fact, and this is the first one I've bought with 'Wolverine' on the cover. I do consider myself a fan of the character, but I was never tempted to read his solo adventures for one reason or another, so here we are, my first exposure to Wolverine solo.
Jason Aaron knows Wolverine. The opening narration about Colombia could be handed to someone just written plain, black on white and if they were familiar with the character, they'd know it was Logan. I really like the idea that although he's a world famous superhero, he's still partial to getting drunk and passing out on the subway, Aaron seems to be showing us that Wolverine is a superhero in spite of himself, as he says in his conversation with Maverick "Tried settling down before. Never seems to take." Logan doesn't have some driving trauma like Batman, or the guilt of responsiblity like Spider-Man, it's more like duty, if life gave him the opportunity to give it all up, he would in a heartbeat, but there's always one more thing that needs taken care of.
That leads us into this story, Roxxon have gotten hold of the Weapon X files and used it to create a team of mercenaries with Wolverine's abilities, so once again, Wolverine feels the need to investigate and that's pretty much where the issue ends. It's not action packed, and there's nothing we didn't know from interviews, but the issue's strength is the characterisation. Aaron's greatest gift as a writer is his ability to cut to the core and distill what makes a character awesome. Ghost Rider is a dude with a flaming skeleton that rides a flaming motorcycle through the desert. Black Panther is the most effecient warrior king in the world. And Wolverine? Wolverine is the best there is at what he does.
Ron Garney never seems to get the respect he deserves, he's done amazing work on A-List titles like Captain America and Amazing Spider-Man, and yet no-one ever mentions him when listing artists. He's the quiet workhorse of Marvel's stable of artists, turning in strong art to little acclaim, even though he deserves it. Hopefully this'll change things. A lot of artists aren't suited to the lack of an inker, they look unfinished, but Garney pulls it off admirably matching strong action scenes with equally strong facial expressions and character moments.
Overall, it's a good first issue for introducing someone to who Wolverine is and what he does and shows promise for Aaron's run, but could have done with a bit more.

Teenage Wasteland

The Adamantium Men
Wrtten by Jason Aaron
Art by Ron Garney and Jason Keith

On the way home from my comic shop today, I realised something. I've been reading comics for two years now, a little bit over in fact, and this is the first one I've bought with 'Wolverine' on the cover. I do consider myself a fan of the character, but I was never tempted to read his solo adventures for one reason or another, so here we are, my first exposure to Wolverine solo.
Jason Aaron knows Wolverine. The opening narration about Colombia could be handed to someone just written plain, black on white and if they were familiar with the character, they'd know it was Logan. I really like the idea that although he's a world famous superhero, he's still partial to getting drunk and passing out on the subway, Aaron seems to be showing us that Wolverine is a superhero in spite of himself, as he says in his conversation with Maverick "Tried settling down before. Never seems to take." Logan doesn't have some driving trauma like Batman, or the guilt of responsiblity like Spider-Man, it's more like duty, if life gave him the opportunity to give it all up, he would in a heartbeat, but there's always one more thing that needs taken care of.
That leads us into this story, Roxxon have gotten hold of the Weapon X files and used it to create a team of mercenaries with Wolverine's abilities, so once again, Wolverine feels the need to investigate and that's pretty much where the issue ends. It's not action packed, and there's nothing we didn't know from interviews, but the issue's strength is the characterisation. Aaron's greatest gift as a writer is his ability to cut to the core and distill what makes a character awesome. Ghost Rider is a dude with a flaming skeleton that rides a flaming motorcycle through the desert. Black Panther is the most effecient warrior king in the world. And Wolverine? Wolverine is the best there is at what he does.
Ron Garney never seems to get the respect he deserves, he's done amazing work on A-List titles like Captain America and Amazing Spider-Man, and yet no-one ever mentions him when listing artists. He's the quiet workhorse of Marvel's stable of artists, turning in strong art to little acclaim, even though he deserves it. Hopefully this'll change things. A lot of artists aren't suited to the lack of an inker, they look unfinished, but Garney pulls it off admirably matching strong action scenes with equally strong facial expressions and character moments.
Overall, it's a good first issue for introducing someone to who Wolverine is and what he does and shows promise for Aaron's run, but could have done with a bit more.

Outhouse Editor

Say what you will about the mutant with the beserker rage but there's one thing that almost everybody can agree on. You can't pick up a Marvel book without seeing him somewhere in it.

I went into this story with no expectations at all. My first thought was that it was just another way for Marvel to get four extra dollars from me, without doing much other than having Logan chop people up, tell us what he's best at doing, and reminding us of his long and tortured past. And after reading it twice I can say that this book did not disappoint me at all. It was everything I was expecting and even less.

Granted the art was well done, though the coloring didn't really jump out at me, but the story felt like nothing more than a rehash of a rehash of a rehash. I get it, Wolverine is bad. He's mean. He's a loner (who seems to be in every group book Marvel owns), we all know this. If somebody doesn't know it, I'm sure they could pick up any one of ten other books that he appears in (including several of his own).

On the plus side, as I stated, it couldn't disappoint me because I got everything I was expecting.

Outhouse Editor

Say what you will about the mutant with the beserker rage but there's one thing that almost everybody can agree on. You can't pick up a Marvel book without seeing him somewhere in it.

I went into this story with no expectations at all. My first thought was that it was just another way for Marvel to get four extra dollars from me, without doing much other than having Logan chop people up, tell us what he's best at doing, and reminding us of his long and tortured past. And after reading it twice I can say that this book did not disappoint me at all. It was everything I was expecting and even less.

Granted the art was well done, though the coloring didn't really jump out at me, but the story felt like nothing more than a rehash of a rehash of a rehash. I get it, Wolverine is bad. He's mean. He's a loner (who seems to be in every group book Marvel owns), we all know this. If somebody doesn't know it, I'm sure they could pick up any one of ten other books that he appears in (including several of his own).

On the plus side, as I stated, it couldn't disappoint me because I got everything I was expecting.

Staff Writer

Story - Snikt! It's Wolverine time! Ahem, anyway, what we have here is the first issue of a new ongoing Wolverine series, and yes, I know we already have 3, and it's just a movie cash-in and yadda-yadda, none of that matters as long as the comic is good, and with Jason Aaron and Ron Garney behind Weapon X, you bet your ass it's good.

We open up in Colombia, where ubiquitous evil Marvel corporation Roxxon is up to no good, killing helpless villagers with the aid of mysterious assassins with glowing Wolverine claws. This opening scene is effective for a few reasons, mainly it is Aaron's Wolverine narration, you know it's Logan from the off, before we even see the character, Aaron has him nailed (of course you should all already know this from 'Get Mystique' and 'Manifest Destiny'). After this opening, we finally get some Wolverine action, in the X-Men's new home city, San Francisco, a young woman is mugged on the Tube, but is saved by Wolverine, this is all standard stuff, but it is presented in a new and interesting way, we all know that Wolverine is the drunk underneath that newspaper, but Aaron waits until the last possible moment before revealing it, in a typically bloodthirsty fashion, and then, just to set this book apart even more, he then shoves a gun up a mugger's backside, not quite as good as what Bullseye does in this week's 'Dark Reign: Hawkeye', but close. I wonder if Aaron is setting this woman who was saved as a supporting character, she is a reporter after all, can she help Logan investigate Weapon X? She seems quite vanilla now, but Aaron is adept at fleshing out characters who at first seem slight, take a look at Scalped, the character focus issues in that book are fantastic, and maybe he will do the same with Melita Garner.

Now the real meat of the story, Wolverine meets up with Maverick, who tells him that Roxxon has revived the Weapon X program where both of them were messed with, and Logan goes to investigate, discovering that he isn't dealing with one problem, but many! These scenes were interesting, I loved the juxtaposition of Wolverine exploring this new Weapon X faciltiy and flashing back to his days there, these single panels were very effective, telling the reader a lot, but not in a ham-fisted way. Plus, we get the return of Maverick! He's always been a favourite 90s guilty pleasure of mine, it's good to see him back, and hope he has more to do in the book than just tell Wolverine stuff.

In addition to the main story, we also get Official Handbook style recaps of both Maverick and Weapon X's histories, which are useful and enlightening, and an preview of Jason Aaron's upcoming Ghost Riders: Heaven's On Fire mini-series, which looks amazing, so it's a good package, and overall a great book. Yes, there may be a glut of Wolverine titles, but when they are as strong as this and Old Man Logan, does it really matter? Aaron nails the character of Wolverine in a few pages, sets up a few possible supporting players, and a strong central storyline for this opening arc, what is the deal with these new Wolverines? Why do they glow? Are they stronger than our guy? All questions I'm eager to see answered. This was an excellent if a little slight first issue, and I hope it will take Jason Aaron from Vertigo cult favourite to a big hitter.

Art - Ron Garney is a very strong artist, and he's been improving by leaps and bounds lately, I remember his work on JLA a few years ago not being nearly as strong as this, I can see Andy Kubert in there, and John Romita Jnr too, but he still has his own distinct style. As is important for a book which stars a character with knives on his hands, he handles violence and blood very well, the scene where Wolverine chops the mugger's hands off is a good example, he also has enough chops to tell a story without Aaron's words, like when the mugger runs out of the train, or the flashback panels expertly showing history in one shot. I can't really think of a better artist for Wolverine, especially since he's not handline him in the yellow and blue this time, plainclothes and X-Force costume only. I hope we get to see him do a Patch/Madripoor story.

Best Line - It's a toss-up between 'A whole lot of killin' that needs to be done, that's what the hell I'm looking at' and 'If you were me, you'd drink too' Wolverine dialogue is fun!

8/10Forget about the myriad other titles and the movie, and just enjoy a solid Wolverine comic with great art for what it is.

Story - Snikt! It's Wolverine time! Ahem, anyway, what we have here is the first issue of a new ongoing Wolverine series, and yes, I know we already have 3, and it's just a movie cash-in and yadda-yadda, none of that matters as long as the comic is good, and with Jason Aaron and Ron Garney behind Weapon X, you bet your ass it's good.

We open up in Colombia, where ubiquitous evil Marvel corporation Roxxon is up to no good, killing helpless villagers with the aid of mysterious assassins with glowing Wolverine claws. This opening scene is effective for a few reasons, mainly it is Aaron's Wolverine narration, you know it's Logan from the off, before we even see the character, Aaron has him nailed (of course you should all already know this from 'Get Mystique' and 'Manifest Destiny'). After this opening, we finally get some Wolverine action, in the X-Men's new home city, San Francisco, a young woman is mugged on the Tube, but is saved by Wolverine, this is all standard stuff, but it is presented in a new and interesting way, we all know that Wolverine is the drunk underneath that newspaper, but Aaron waits until the last possible moment before revealing it, in a typically bloodthirsty fashion, and then, just to set this book apart even more, he then shoves a gun up a mugger's backside, not quite as good as what Bullseye does in this week's 'Dark Reign: Hawkeye', but close. I wonder if Aaron is setting this woman who was saved as a supporting character, she is a reporter after all, can she help Logan investigate Weapon X? She seems quite vanilla now, but Aaron is adept at fleshing out characters who at first seem slight, take a look at Scalped, the character focus issues in that book are fantastic, and maybe he will do the same with Melita Garner.

Now the real meat of the story, Wolverine meets up with Maverick, who tells him that Roxxon has revived the Weapon X program where both of them were messed with, and Logan goes to investigate, discovering that he isn't dealing with one problem, but many! These scenes were interesting, I loved the juxtaposition of Wolverine exploring this new Weapon X faciltiy and flashing back to his days there, these single panels were very effective, telling the reader a lot, but not in a ham-fisted way. Plus, we get the return of Maverick! He's always been a favourite 90s guilty pleasure of mine, it's good to see him back, and hope he has more to do in the book than just tell Wolverine stuff.

In addition to the main story, we also get Official Handbook style recaps of both Maverick and Weapon X's histories, which are useful and enlightening, and an preview of Jason Aaron's upcoming Ghost Riders: Heaven's On Fire mini-series, which looks amazing, so it's a good package, and overall a great book. Yes, there may be a glut of Wolverine titles, but when they are as strong as this and Old Man Logan, does it really matter? Aaron nails the character of Wolverine in a few pages, sets up a few possible supporting players, and a strong central storyline for this opening arc, what is the deal with these new Wolverines? Why do they glow? Are they stronger than our guy? All questions I'm eager to see answered. This was an excellent if a little slight first issue, and I hope it will take Jason Aaron from Vertigo cult favourite to a big hitter.

Art - Ron Garney is a very strong artist, and he's been improving by leaps and bounds lately, I remember his work on JLA a few years ago not being nearly as strong as this, I can see Andy Kubert in there, and John Romita Jnr too, but he still has his own distinct style. As is important for a book which stars a character with knives on his hands, he handles violence and blood very well, the scene where Wolverine chops the mugger's hands off is a good example, he also has enough chops to tell a story without Aaron's words, like when the mugger runs out of the train, or the flashback panels expertly showing history in one shot. I can't really think of a better artist for Wolverine, especially since he's not handline him in the yellow and blue this time, plainclothes and X-Force costume only. I hope we get to see him do a Patch/Madripoor story.

Best Line - It's a toss-up between 'A whole lot of killin' that needs to be done, that's what the hell I'm looking at' and 'If you were me, you'd drink too' Wolverine dialogue is fun!

8/10Forget about the myriad other titles and the movie, and just enjoy a solid Wolverine comic with great art for what it is.

Review Grouper

young neil I owe you a drink without you picking this book for the Review group I wouldn't of picked it up. It was AWESOME!

Review
Wolverine Weapon X #1: Aaron/Garney Marvel $3.99
SNICK! Well this was a pleasant surprise. I only picked this up for the OH review group and I’m very happy I did. This is what Wolverine is about it’s not like Way’s Origins book nor is it like Millar’s Old Man Logan run this is something fresh and very original. Lot of stuff gets set up and I am looking forward to see where Jason Aaron takes it. Ron Garney killed it on art. Well worth my $3.99

Review Grouper

young neil I owe you a drink without you picking this book for the Review group I wouldn't of picked it up. It was AWESOME!

Review
Wolverine Weapon X #1: Aaron/Garney Marvel $3.99
SNICK! Well this was a pleasant surprise. I only picked this up for the OH review group and I’m very happy I did. This is what Wolverine is about it’s not like Way’s Origins book nor is it like Millar’s Old Man Logan run this is something fresh and very original. Lot of stuff gets set up and I am looking forward to see where Jason Aaron takes it. Ron Garney killed it on art. Well worth my $3.99

Staff Writer

Hmmm, now this was interesting. We get perfectly in character Logan as well as a nice cameo by an old cult favorite character. My only complaint is the heavy handed and very obvious twist that I believe is the name of the arc. There is going to be a whole troup of Wolverine wannabees.

We'll see if this does for Wolverine what Invincible did for Iron Man.

Hmmm, now this was interesting. We get perfectly in character Logan as well as a nice cameo by an old cult favorite character. My only complaint is the heavy handed and very obvious twist that I believe is the name of the arc. There is going to be a whole troup of Wolverine wannabees.

We'll see if this does for Wolverine what Invincible did for Iron Man.

Review Grouper

I am pretty indifferent with Wolverine, I don't buy his solo books (except this Old Man Logan arc which has been balls awesome) cuz I get enough of a fix with him in New Avengers but I don't get too riled up about him being around in so many books... and indifferent is how I felt about this book. I think Aaron tells a fine story, I think if I was more of a Wolverine fan I would have liked this more. Garney's pencils seem to fit much better here than they did on the first couple issues of Skaar that I read. I am not too familiar with the Weapon X stuff or the Maverick character but Aaron does a good job catching up newbies, yeah it may be tied a bit into the movie but can you blame Marvel?
Essential reading for big time Wolvie fans and newcomers but maybe not so much for the casual.
STORY - 6

Review Grouper

I am pretty indifferent with Wolverine, I don't buy his solo books (except this Old Man Logan arc which has been balls awesome) cuz I get enough of a fix with him in New Avengers but I don't get too riled up about him being around in so many books... and indifferent is how I felt about this book. I think Aaron tells a fine story, I think if I was more of a Wolverine fan I would have liked this more. Garney's pencils seem to fit much better here than they did on the first couple issues of Skaar that I read. I am not too familiar with the Weapon X stuff or the Maverick character but Aaron does a good job catching up newbies, yeah it may be tied a bit into the movie but can you blame Marvel?
Essential reading for big time Wolvie fans and newcomers but maybe not so much for the casual.
STORY - 6

Twenty-Something

Even if the review was as simple as "I read like 4 pages and it blew a big fat donkey dick" is more helpful than "here's a review of the new Focus" instead...

yes but at least the person is caring enough to be involved in the group by offering his opinion on something rather than nothing at all. Anything that can potentially bring discussion and/or debate should be welcome in here. Having people try to review the book of the week is great for most of us but i also like seeing the ocassional one off review in here. If the person does it every week than yes that person doesn't understand the concept but if it's a once in awhile thing I don't see the harm.

Twenty-Something

Even if the review was as simple as "I read like 4 pages and it blew a big fat donkey dick" is more helpful than "here's a review of the new Focus" instead...

yes but at least the person is caring enough to be involved in the group by offering his opinion on something rather than nothing at all. Anything that can potentially bring discussion and/or debate should be welcome in here. Having people try to review the book of the week is great for most of us but i also like seeing the ocassional one off review in here. If the person does it every week than yes that person doesn't understand the concept but if it's a once in awhile thing I don't see the harm.

Review Grouper

I think you should review the book chosen. That being said, I am not gonna cause a stink if dude doesn't wanna review a particular book. I do think the thread should be for reviews of said book, maybe we should bring back the spin-off thread for substitute reviews?
just my 2 cents that are worth less.

Review Grouper

I think you should review the book chosen. That being said, I am not gonna cause a stink if dude doesn't wanna review a particular book. I do think the thread should be for reviews of said book, maybe we should bring back the spin-off thread for substitute reviews?
just my 2 cents that are worth less.

Outhouse Editor

48THRiLLS wrote:I think you should review the book chosen. That being said, I am not gonna cause a stink if dude doesn't wanna review a particular book. I do think the thread should be for reviews of said book, maybe we should bring back the spin-off thread for substitute reviews?just my 2 cents that are worth less.

I tend to agree with this. The review thread is for the selected book. Totally understand if people can't or don't want to read that book, but one of the reasons I quit the group at the oldrama was because it suddenly felt like everyone was just throwing out reviews of any book they got their hands on.

A seperate thread for other titles might be a great compromise, though.

Outhouse Editor

48THRiLLS wrote:I think you should review the book chosen. That being said, I am not gonna cause a stink if dude doesn't wanna review a particular book. I do think the thread should be for reviews of said book, maybe we should bring back the spin-off thread for substitute reviews?just my 2 cents that are worth less.

I tend to agree with this. The review thread is for the selected book. Totally understand if people can't or don't want to read that book, but one of the reasons I quit the group at the oldrama was because it suddenly felt like everyone was just throwing out reviews of any book they got their hands on.

A seperate thread for other titles might be a great compromise, though.

Garbage Collector

Well sounds like this week there's been some Very mixed opinions. I also am very keen to have a spin-off thread it was great for books you were thinking about picking up but needed the extra kick in the direction.

Garbage Collector

Well sounds like this week there's been some Very mixed opinions. I also am very keen to have a spin-off thread it was great for books you were thinking about picking up but needed the extra kick in the direction.